Being a Thief

Today I'd like to talk about a crucial skill for any writer- thievery. Now I'm not talking about stealing someone else's ideas, characters, titles, whathaveyou- I'm talking about stealing information.

We're in a field that really has no lesson plan (ok, those of you working of your MFA's go sit this one out ;)). There's no one specific way to become a published, or publishable author. So we have to cobble together our own lessons from those around us.

Take a quick look at the "my blogs" section of this blog. I have folks on there whom I steal from regularly and most don't know me personally ;). I keep that list there for myself as well as other writers who may want to find new places to pick through. New bits of information we can add to our nests.

We're lucky in that we are writing in this great age of the Internet. Lemme tell ya, when I first started (won't say when ;))- there was no Internet. You had to get all information from books (sometimes out of date) or the monthly Writer's Digest (helpful, but often limited). Now it's ALL OVER.

And yet, I still see new writer's asking very basic questions and making very basic mistakes. Things that a simple Google search probably could have addressed. They haven't learned to reach out- to troll for info. To cross genre lines to learn writing skills and business issues. If you note, I have blogs from numerous genres listed (I'd add more but it's getting a bit long already). Good writing is good writing, and if I can pick up a great tip from a mystery web site- does it matter where it came from? I don't write romance, yet I have learned more from the RWA than anywhere else.

To be a writer means you need to be inquisitive- not only about your characters and your stories, but about your writing knowledge.

Steal from everyone and give back when you can.

Do you have any amazing writing/writer blogs to recommend?